102 NATURE STUDY AND AGRICULTURE 
than half of them are goldenrods, sunflowers, and asters, there 
being many species of each of these. 
50. The Goldenrods. — These popular plants have com- 
posite flowers in very small heads, and it requires close ob- 
GOLDENROD 
a, Canada; b, harsh-leaved; c, 
low Missouri. WILD SUNFLOWERS 
servation to discover that these little heads are really made 
up of five or ten tiny florets. In most of the goldenrods 
the flower cluster is gracefully turned to one side, as in a, 
but in a few species the stem is straight and the cluster 
presents a flat top, as in 0. The latter form people 
often fail to recognize as a goldenrod, but the kind 
shown in the picture is quite common on most of our 
prairies. 
51. The Sunflowers. — There are many species of wild 
sunflowers, all of which may be recognized by their resem- 
blance to the cultivated species. The flowers, of course, are 
smaller, but they have the same sort of yellow rays at the 
outside of the head and the brown face in the center. The 
earliest species that comes into bloom has an unbranched 
